Mount Tanigawa

Tanigawa-dake is only 1,977 meters high, yet more than 800 climbers have died on it since records began in 1931, a toll often quoted as the highest of any mountain in the world. Most of those deaths happened on the rock walls of the east face, not on the walking route. The best known wall is Ichinokura-sawa, a cliff of crumbly rock above a gully that keeps its snow well into summer, and you can look at it without climbing anything. Route 291 is closed to private cars beyond the climbing guidance center, so either walk the road from the ropeway base, roughly an hour, or take the small electric bus that runs from May to November. Most people instead ride Tanigawadake Yoho, the ropeway formerly called Tanigawadake Ropeway, from Doaiguchi to Tenjindaira in about 15 minutes. From the top station the Tenjin Ridge trail reaches the summit in about three hours, and the descent takes about two. Expect steep, rocky sections near the top. The ridge sits on the watershed between the Pacific and Sea of Japan sides, and cloud builds fast, so start early and turn back when the weather does. Doai, the mole station with 462 steps up from its tunnel platform, is 1.5 km below the ropeway.